


Never Quite Normal

by Buzzkid, kalepunk



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, LaFerry - Freeform, Nonbinary LaFontaine, Other, Work In Progress, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-02-27 04:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2678927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buzzkid/pseuds/Buzzkid, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalepunk/pseuds/kalepunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lafontaine comes home after spending 5 years abroad getting their bachelors in biology, because they're a bio major.. They majored, in biology. They stop in to a Coffee shop to avoid talking to their parents and get some work done on a research paper. They get terribly distracted however when the curly haired barista asks what they might like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Prelude to Lunch

The small coffee shop was full of soft tones and espresso fumes. Lafontaine took their time entering, barely through the doorway as the bell signaling their entry chimed behind them. It was their first time going out since they had moved back to the city. The little corner cafe had caught their eye on the drive in - it was new (or new since 5 years ago..) and, while they were excited about being home, a lot had changed since college. Doing research at this little coffee shop had struck them as the perfect way to get out of seeing their parents, or to at least postpone it for a little while. It was strange being back. They didn’t really know anyone or where anything was anymore. Lafontaine hoped that maybe this coffee shop would be good for helping to reintegrate into the city. They picked a stool along the bar and slid their backpack to the ground at their side. Before they could even begin their work, they were interrupted by the soft sound of a throat clearing. Lafontaine’s attention was drawn to the pursed smile of the barista with waterfall-ed ringlets of gold for hair and eyes that looked as though they never strayed from the end target.

“Excuse me Miss, how may I help you today?” Ringlet’s pursued, her sharp voice mirroring the intensity of her eyes.

“I-uh-," Lafontaine paused, thrown off by the girl's 'Miss' in reference to them, "I’ll take a soy latte please” They finally responded, absently.

“You know, soy actually lacks a lot of the nutritional value of regular milk. So it’s actually healthier to drink regular milk” Ringlets stated very matter-of-factly, her head bobbing as she spoke, pressing her point.

This statement caused Lafontaine to actually meet the eyes of the beautiful barista, smiling as they did (because one, she was gorgeous, and secondly because the girl’s expression told Lafontaine that she had told them about the milk because she truly cared to make sure they knew). Ringlet’s gaze was intense, but her severe expression was softened by a nurturing tone.

“Actually, I mean while that’s true, our bodies aren’t really designed for cow’s milk and so we can’t absorb those nutrients the way that a calf would,” Lafontaine iterated with a smile meeting the widened eyes of the barista, their own a willing target for conversation.

“Biology Major," they added in explanation, with a short nod and a proud smile.

“Oh- well..that’s- interesting.” She looked thoroughly thrown off. “ I-um- well that’ll be coming right up I suppose” The girl diverted rather anxiously.

“It’s alright,” Laf chimed in quickly,“it’s- it’s something that’d gone unconfirmed until recently. I would’ve loved to be one of the scientists that confirmed it.. I guess i’m a little late..” Lafontaine reassured the copper haired girl in an attempt to keep the conversation going. It was a welcomed interaction after being cooped up in their new apartment since returning home.

“Oh-” The girl’s eyes lost a bit of their intensity and her face softened into a smile, “I’m sure there’s plenty of other things that will peak your interest!” She responded curtly before turning and zipping about the counter to prepare their latte.

Lafontaine’s charming smile didn’t leave their face as they began pulling out their laptop and the rough draft of their research paper. They took a moment, debating whether or not they ought to put in their headphones. Was the possibility of further conversation with Ringlets here worth distraction from their studies? They glanced up at her, trying to decide. For a moment, their eyes locked. Lafontaine smiled, and the girl smiled slightly looking away to hide a rising blush. _So worth it_.

“Your SOY latte,” Ringlets set down the mug, punctuating the sentence with another short clearing of her throat as she pulled the sides of her lips into a polite smile. Her eyes were noticeably less intense, less removed. She propped herself up on the other side of the counter with her elbows.

“So, what’re you studying, umm-” She leaned over, looking down at Lafontaine’s research paper, honing in on their first name, “-Susan?” she asked, meeting Lafontaine’s simple blue eyes.

“Is that you?”

Lafontaine shied away from the eye contact, glancing down to the side.

“Um yeah, but i- uh I go by Lafontaine actually, my last name..I identify as non-binary, by the way so..i go by 'they/them' pronouns, not 'she/her'” They explained cautiously, unsure of how the barista would react. They weren’t ready to go to war over this again, not yet.

“Oh! Um, okay, -Lafontaaaine..” She drew out their name pointedly, nodding to herself, committing it to her memory. “I’m Perry. Well, my first name’s Lola but I go by my last name as well.. not for any reason like that! I, um, I mean- i’m a girl, I just-” Lafontaine met her eyes again to see the girls reemerging distress. Their face scrunched slightly as they nodded vehemently.

“ Right- I didn’t assume! I just- um I-”, They sighed heavily looking down at the wooden countertop.

A silence took the conversation.

As the count of quiet moments reached a four or five, Lafontaine looked up, drawing Perry’s eyes (who had been looking down uncomfortably as well) to meet theirs.

“So- how come you go by Perry?” They inquired, desperately trying to alleviate the awkward momentary tension between them.

Perry’s face softened slightly again, “Well…” She looked down shyly, “I just don’t like Lola very much.. I don’t feel like it represents- who I am… very well is all.” While confessing, she somehow maintained her vigorous way of speaking.

Lafontaine smiled up at Perry again, “See, that I can understand.”

Perry scoffed as she smiled.

“I’ll be right back alright? I- um i’ve just got a couple things I need to finish up here-” Perry turned on her heels and reached for a couple dirty dishes, “Don’t go anywhere alright?” She said quickly, turning again towards Lafontaine and giving them a look of intent and mild worry, though it was followed with a barely discernible, maybe flirty smile?

Lafontaine couldn’t quite tell what the smile was supposed to mean. _Was she just....._ They couldn't help but smile back, in reassurance (and flirting in return). 

When Perry came back, Laf had gotten maybe a few sentences of editing done in between replaying their previous conversation with Perry in their head.

“Sorry about that- always something to do,” Perry laughed softly as she returned to Lafontaine. “So, what’re you working on?”

Lafontaine and Perry continued short conversations in between Perry’s customers until her shift ended. Lafontaine wished they could say they’d made significant progress on their research paper, but the truth was, even in the breaks between conversations with Perry, they spent the time following her with their eyes, mesmerized by the tightly wound girl. Lafontaine had never met someone quite like her, someone who seemed as though they were terrified of falling apart, but acted with a knack for keeping everything together. That second point was evident by how she went about her job, her coworkers acting in perfect harmony, Perry seeming to be the drums guiding the rhythm forward.

“Um, Lafontaine!” Perry called over from where she stood, arms full of dishes, “I’m almost done with my shift if you want to- Um, we could talk some more, maybe somewhere else?!” She didn’t wait for confirmation before disappearing into the back.

Lafontaine shook their head with a slight smile and pulled out their phone. They navigated down to the name Laura, their friend from University. Laura was one of the few people they’d managed to ( _or cared to_ ) stay in contact with. Most of Laf’s other college friends were in the middle of time consuming research endeavors all around the world. 

**Laura** ( ** _12:32 pm_** ): _LAURA_ (they texted the girl in all caps quickly, hoping to get the message sent before Perry returned)  _I think I met someone? You wouldn’t believe it frosh, second day back, I hope everything's going well, call me later._  

They slid their phone back into their pocket and began to put away their computer and books. Perry came out of the 'employee’s only' door moments later, and strode to Lafontaine quickly from the side, almost taking them by surprise.

“Woah, hey Perr” Lafontaine stuttered, trying out the new nickname.

“Hello, Sooo-” She sighed out the word ‘So’, transitioning into the calm moment from the rush of her job, “do you want to go out to eat or something?” Lafontaine smiled up at the girl before finishing packing their things away.

“Well aren’t we a little presumptuous-” They started in jest. Upon seeing a look of insecurity and panic come over Perry’s eyes Laf dropped the joke.

“I mean- yeah, let’s grab a bite to eat” they said, standing up, book bag in hand.


	2. Are We There Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How far away is this restaurant anyways??

Perry led Lafontaine out of the coffee shop and towards her favorite lunch spot. The sun brought out the gold in her red-haired ringlets, and the copper in Lafontaine’s own red under cut. The two were quite the pair, Perry standing approximately half a head taller than Laf; Perry’s expression focused on the destination and Laf focused on Perry.  


“So, are you new to the city then?” Perry inquired, leading Lafontaine, setting the pace a foot in front of them. Lafontaine skipped up behind her, trying to match her pace.

“Actually I grew up here, I just finished getting my undergrad in Biology in Styria,” Lafontaine responded, their expression was relaxed and their eyes were concentrated, occasionally punctuating their statements with a furrowed brow. “I’ve actually only been gone for like...5 years? and it already feels like everything’s changed.”  


“Oh right! you mentioned that, Bio major… I can’t imagine it’s changed THAT much but..” Perry’s pace slowed as she noticed Laf’s struggle to keep up with her brisk stride, “Well, I could definitely show you around sometime.” Perry’s eyes dropped to the sidewalk and a blush threatened to take over her cheeks, “I mean I walk everywhere, so I pretty much know this city like the back of my hand” Perry turned back slightly toward Lafontaine, displaying her hand in front of her, beaming at them as if she had just told the funniest joke anyone has ever heard.  


“Um yeah,” Lafontaine responded, completely oblivious to the joke that Perry’s eyes were still searching for the reaction to, “That’d be cool, So are you in college, or did you-?”  


“Oh no, I’m- I’m actually um.. working on getting through an undergrad at the community college downtown. I’m still on my umm.. my second year? -technically” She answered quickly, clearly uncomfortable, not meeting Laf’s eyes once as she explained. “I-um I don’t really have time for being a ‘Full time’ student..” Her voice trailed and she looked down. The quotes around “Full time” were purely vocal as her hands were busy, meshed together fidgeting, arms pulled taut across her stomach.  


“Oh! That’s cool..” Laf looked at the ground for a moment, unsure of how to assuage Perry’s discomfort. “What’re you studying there? I-uh I got lucky I guess, full scholarship.. though i think Silas has a special selection process, with ulterior motives or something because-” Lafontaine trailed off their rambling sentence, as they caught themselves.. They cleared their throat quickly, shaking their head to recover. “Sorry- I didn’t mean to go on like that, i mean-” Their hand ruffled through their side swept hair in frustration. Thankfully, before Lafontaine could stutter on any further, Perry cut in, choosing to ignore all but the initial question.  


“I- I don’t really know yet, actually. We don’t have to declare a major yet. I’d been looking into maybe.. German lit-? You see my mother was German and we, well we didn’t exactly get along- but the language.. I really really like the literature.” Her hands had unfolded as she talked, her emphasizing gestures growing in energy as she spoke.  
“Honestly i’m pretty jealous, i would’ve killlled to spend some time in Austria. I’m- uh I’m actually writing a paper right now on Kafka’s Metamorphosis.” Her pace was still fast both in walking and in speaking, but now it seemed to be a subconscious response to her excitement.  


The two went on this way for the next six or seven blocks. Lafontaine found out quite quickly that once Perry got started on German Literature it was difficult to get her to stop. They didn’t have much of a problem with this however - they relished the chance to see the angular girl go on about something she was passionate about. It wasn’t for awhile, until there was a lull in the conversation, that Lafontaine realized they’d yet to reach their destination.  


“Hey..um.. Perr? Where exactly are we going?” Lafontaine inquired, tugging on the girls sleeve, as she still lead approximately a foot in front of them.  


“Oh! it’s this cute little sandwich shop on 6th” Perry explained over her shoulder, “You’re gonna love it, it’s one of my favorite spots!”. Lafontaine eyed Perry, still not completely sure about this. They’d been walking for almost an hour.  


“Um, I’m really loving talking to you and all but, couldn’t we have taken a bus or-?”  


“Oh no! I don’t support that sort of thing!” She responded over her shoulder, her face bearing a look nearing disgust. “Don’t worry it’s actually quite close, it’s only a few blocks more”. Lafontaine took a minute to decide whether or not they should inquire more about what ‘sort of thing’ Perry didn’t support but decided that that was a conversation for another time.  


“Alright..” Lafontaine was still a bit unsure, but decided to let it be as they’d enjoyed the conversations greatly and didn’t really mind continuing on this way. Perry had been describing her intrigue for Kafka’s work, specifically ‘The Metamorphosis’, and how the context of the book was rooted in the history of Austria-Hungary; thus sparking Lafontaine to describe what little they had gathered of the Austrian scene while attending college in Styria. Despite their enjoyment of this exchange, Laf was ready to continue any further conversation sitting down.  


After just a few more rounded corners and straight aways they, at long last, arrived at Perry’s lunch spot. It was a sandwich shop comprised of windows rather than walls for its front, and featured a dim-red overhang. Despite being a sandwich shop, the interior design and general feel were that of a bistro. There were small photography pieces scattered along the walls, each outlined with an appropriately shaped and sized piece of color stained wood behind the work. Lafontaine took it all in for a minute, waiting at the doorway while Perry was already picking out a seat, not noticing that they were no longer following behind her.  


“Lafontaine!” She called out from a seat near the wall, beckoning them with curt hand gestures. Lafontaine barely noticed, looking around the world with mild wonder. As they sat down, Perry already had her nose buried in the menu. She glanced up at them and caught herself hiding a smile at Laf’s wonder filled eyes.  


“You’d think you had never seen a sandwich shop before, Lafontaine,” Perry teased. Lafontaine either ignored her remark or was oblivious to the whole matter as they continued looking around the room in a trance. It wasn’t for a moment that it registered that maybe Perry had said something to them.  


“Hmm?!” Lafontaine said, snapping out of their momentary daze and settling into their chair, “I’m sorry this place just seems soo familiar! What’d you say the name of it was again?”  


“I didn’t, it’s called Rudy’s” Perry answered as she diligently organized the sugar packets.  


“Huh, I don’t know..” They pulled themselves away from their wonder, having found no answer to their confusion, and picked up a menu. “So, how come you like this place so much?”  


“Hey ladies!” The waiter approached the two of them, cutting off Perry before she could answer; he pulled a pad of paper and pen out of a pocket in his apron,. “How may I help you today?” He smiled flirtatiously and gave Perry a quick wink. Although Laf was used to it at this point, being called ‘Lady’ made them pause shortly to deal with the discomfort. Short enough of a pause, Laf thought, that no one would notice, except (apparently) Perry, who studied them fondly, completely ignoring the waiter’s attempt at charm. After a moment, Perry realized that there was dead air and a question unanswered, so she quickly spoke to relieve any tension.  


“Ehhem, I’ll have the grilled cheese please and if you wouldn’t mind bringing a-a a small knife as well” Perry responded, smiling politely at the waiter before looking intently at Laf who was still perusing the menu. She cleared her throat again to get their attention. “Lafontaine!”  


“Hmm? Oh sorry, i uh-” they looked up from the menu at Perry’s expectant gaze “I’ll take the BLT, um extra tomatoes and... provolone cheese please” Lafontaine swallowed gently and glanced toward the waiter, giving him a slightly absent smile. The waiter politely confirmed their orders before retreating to the counter and leaving the two in peace, his eyes lingering on Perry for just a moment, still trying to catch her eye.  


“The grilled cheese,” Perry stated matter-of-factly after he left.  


“Huh?” Lafontaine replied. Perry’s smile, that almost seemed to never leave her face, pursed slightly as she began her explanation  


“Well, you asked me why I like this place so much. It’s because of the grilled cheese.” Lafontaine smiled slightly at her response and furrowed their brow inquisitively.  


“What’s so special about it?”

“What ISN’T special about it, is the more appropriate question, Lafontaine.” Perry’s genuine enthusiasm over this grilled cheese was adorable to say the least, but more than that Lafontaine found it captivating (much like her apparent disdain for public transportation). Everything about her seemed so calculated and deliberate. It occurred to Lafontaine that for Perry, ordering grilled cheese sandwiches was done with no less forethought than making some sort of huge life changing decision. If there was a problem to be resolved, Perry would do it right or not do it at all. Lafontaine found themselves quietly marveling as Perry fervently described that this grilled cheese embodied perfection (“as much as any single sandwich conceivably could”). When the food finally came, Lafontaine was thoroughly unimpressed. Perry’s grilled cheese seemed simple but, despite this, she looked remarkably contented as she meticulously cut off the crust and ate it slowly, savoring each bite.  


Throughout the rest of the meal, they chatted casually about more literature, German or otherwise, and Perry explained her method for organizing her library for a good 15 minutes. By the time she finished, Lafontaine had finished their sandwich and was absentmindedly eating crumbs off of their plate. Laf was clearly impressed as their face scrunched into a small amused smile.

“I would totally pay you to organize my books.” Perry’s whole face lit up at the proposition.  


“Oh- you wouldn’t have to pay me. I would be more than happy to come over sometime and-” Laf interrupted before she could finish.  


“-well i mean my furniture isn’t really built and my boxes are still completely packed, and-”  


“I could help you unpack!” Perry cut Laf off, her eyes a little wider, with a small, nervously intent smile on her face. She cleared her throat before adding, “I mean, if you wanted a hand- or something..”  


“Uh- sure..yeah! That would be awesome! Here just wait a sec- I’ll-” Lafontaine grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and a pen from their backpack, quickly jotting down their phone number. “Here, you can text me and we’ll set up a date- I- um I mean a-uh.. time! to- to unpack..” Perry smiled at Laf’s flustered red cheeks and took the napkin. Folding it carefully, she placed it in the breast-pocket of her button up and blushed slightly herself.  


“Th-thanks for that-” she stuttered nervously, awkwardly patting the pocket where she placed Lafontaine’s number, “I’ll uh..I’ll be sure to text you right away! or uh..” in Perry’s attempt to seem less eager she turned her head away slightly and averted her eyes, “as soon as, you know.. i get around to it.” Her “cool” and completely fallible facade did not hold up, and Laf could see right through it. They smiled and stood up, bag in hand, then looked down at Perry sitting at the other side of the table.  


“Thanks for today, by the way. I’m really glad we ran into each other. I’ll uh...see you soon?” It was less of a question and more of a request, to which Perry agreed by nodding slightly and looking up at Lafontaine, eyes gentle and trusting.  


As Lafontaine made their way out of the restaurant they let go of a breath they hadn’t realized they’d been holding. Their hands shook slightly and they felt a giant grin creep across their face. They stood for a second just outside the store, the entrance bell ringing behind them, the cool air meeting their face - the smile of a gorgeous girl still in the forefront of their mind.


	3. Home is Where the Passive Agression is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home sweet Home. Ish. (trigger warnings: transphobia)

Greeted by nothing but the stark quiet of their empty apartment, Lafontaine stumbled through the door. Between walking the blocks upon blocks back to their bus stop and commuting back home, hours had gone by since lunch. The day (intended to be focused solely on writing their godforsaken research paper) was now behind them, and left them utterly exhausted.

Laf set their bag down softly against a stack of cardboard boxes and promptly collapsed onto the bare carpet. Their phone vibrated softly from the bottom of their bag, insulated by untouched reams upon reams of scientific observation, waiting to be analyzed. They elected to ignore it for the time being, failing to find the energy to move even a centimeter from their heap on the floor. After a while, motivated only by the darkness of their apartment created by the failing light of the late afternoon, Lafontaine rose from their crumpled position on the floor to flick on the living room light.

They checked their watch and grimaced at the time - 5:30. Their parents were due any minute with takeout curry and passive aggressive comments about their hair length and wardrobe choices. Lafontaine was grateful to have a couple of extra hands eager to help them unpack and build ikea furniture; the backhanded compliments… they could do without. Invasive questions were another one of their parent’s favorite topics, and Lafontaine knew full well that the next few hours would consist of primarily these. Their mother would ask about college and whether or not they had made any “friends” (by which of course she would mean a nice boy to settle them down and turn them “normal”). _Apparently Christmas has come early_.

There was a knock on the door, and Lafontaine felt that telltale tightening in their chest that signaled the onslaught of unwanted nerves and anger toward two people that they truly cared about - and their parents cared about them in return. They paid for whatever part of Lafontaine’s education wasn’t covered by scholarships, their gap year between their sophomore and junior years, and their new apartment to top it all off. They just wanted the best for Lafontaine... _except in the self worth/esteem department_.

Not a moment after the door had been berated with the intent little fist of Lafontaine’s mother, it was opened, and her tiny frame filled the space. The petite woman practically rushed Lafontaine and proceeded to hug them tightly, while their Dad, his body adorned with what seemed like dozens of grocery bags, was left stumbling in behind.

“Oh Susan, just look at you! Your father and I are sooo excited to hear about college! ooooh!” her tinny voice pierced the air as she tightened her grip on Lafontaine. The not-so-faint smell of perfume overwhelmed Laf, who was still reeling from the sudden and abrasive presence of their mother.

“Lorelai, let her go,” Their father muttered curtly, pulling his wife off of the stunned Lafontaine. They were grateful for their Father interceding in their Mother’s overpowering greeting, but this didn’t stop them from wincing at his blatant misuse of their pronouns. They decided to let it go for now. Or forever. _Only a couple hours more of this, and then.. then I could skype with Laura or maybe even text Perry, or maybe I could_..their thoughts were cut off by the tangy smell of Indian take out.

Their mother had begun searching for their kitchen, not bothering to ask Laf where it was. Lafontaine turned toward their father, watching him carefully pull out the boxes of food and place them on top of a makeshift cardboard box table, quickly realizing just how hungry they were.  Laf could hear the drone of their Mother’s voice from the other room where neither them nor their Father could make out what she was saying. Their father looked up and rolled his eyes at Laf, offering the first smile since the two had arrived.

“We can’t hear you darling! Why don’t you come in here and sit down?” Laf’s father yelled in their mom’s general direction. Lorelai entered the room after a moment with an unamused frown on her face, directed at Laf’s Father.

“I was just saying that--” Laf actually tried for a moment to pay attention to their Mother’s long winded exposition about god-knows what, but found that her presence had already exhausted them beyond the point of awareness...

Lafontaine looked up and noticed that their parents were expectantly looking at them, Mother eyes wide with anticipation, Father head cocked in genuine curiosity.

“....Yeah..” Lafontaine muttered absently as they haphazardly plopped down onto the floor in front of the impromptu cardboard-box dinner table.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it, Susan!” Lafontaine wondered fearfully what exactly they had just promised and what their Mom was so glad to hear about, but the lure of the food was becoming far too distracting to stand any longer. Their mom joined them at the table and the interrogation began.

“Sooooo, Susan, did you meet anyone while you were away?” _A couple warriors of the undead._ “Do anything exciting!?” _Stopped an ancient evil from destroying the entire planet, I guess_. “Your father and I just got all of our plans organized for this winter’s trip to see the family, you’ll have to tell us ASAP when you’re available” _Oh joy._ “Oh Susan, you really haven’t grown out that hair yet? You know when I was your age, my hair went down my back in waves..” _I’m so happy for you._ “Soo what’re you up to next Susan? Your father and I want to hear all about it!” One after the other until Lafontaine was overtaken with an overwhelming apathy and frustration. Before they knew it, their patience had been exhausted and they couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“Can’t we just..save the rest of the college talk until after dinner? Please- can we just talk about hockey? Or like anything else?” Laf must have sounded way more hostile than they had intended, because when they looked up, they found their mother looking dejected and small (which was a feat, considering the woman only came to a whopping 5’2” on a good day). Laf gave her an apologetic smile and murmured “It’s just been a long day..”

Their Mom’s lips pursed and she looked away indignantly, scoffing quietly. She looked over at her husband expectantly for support, but he simply shrugged and dug into a box of chicken.

The three ate in near silence, chatting nonchalantly about the weather and how nice Laf’s new apartment was, though their mother still pursued a passive aggressive tone wherever she could throughout the rest of the conversation. In spite of their mother’s indignance toward the idea of a peaceful supper, they were thankful for this simple service. It had been a long 5 years to say the least, and they needed a little detoxification before jumping back into that cesspool of negativity, even indirectly. Although Laf had developed the means to ignore their mother’s passive aggressive tone and self-centered attitude, it remained an inconvenience to be forced to use this skill; just maybe, it grated on them more than they liked to let on.

After their meal, Lafontaine tried to take advantage of the light mood, quickly suggesting that they start putting together bookshelves and unpacking a couple boxes of kitchen supplies. Lafontaine’s Mom thrived on building things and using her hands to create. She loved crafting and never ceased to talk about it, that is... until she encountered Ikea furniture. The newly christened maison de Lafontaine wouldn’t have  made it past cardboard box furniture had Laf’s Dad not been present to translate the instructions.

When 8 rolled around, Lafontaine mentioned something about having “a bit of a long day, dontcha know” (reverting back to their minnesotan accent in the process). Laf had a brief moment of quizzical introspection at the relapse as their Father took this cue to get their mother out of there, and he did so with a subtle wink at Lafontaine. Laf could always rely on him to make a suckish situation slightly less suckish.

As soon as they were in their car and safely driving _away_ , Lafontaine let out a sigh of relief. They grabbed their bag and moved on to perch on the air mattress that temporarily served as their bed.  Pulling out their laptop and phone, they snuggled down to decompress a bit from their day. Today this could be found in the form of quality time with Laura.

Laura and Lafontaine had met at college and bonded over an array of life or death situations, all thanks to the weirdness that is Silas University. In fact, they had almost moved to New York together. That had been the plan anyway, until Laura decided last minute to stay in Europe with her mysterious, broody girlfriend, Carmilla. This left Laf stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They had wanted to get a new start, away from all of the drama and danger of Silas. They had wanted to move to a city where no one knew their name, or even cared to know it, but without Laura they just couldn’t. They wouldn’t admit it to themselves, but they were terrified of being completely alone. Not that they always needed someone by their side - they had gotten on just fine without someone always being there for their entire life ( _see: absent parents who make up for their abandonment with material items_ ).

Independence was second nature to them, and they thrived on it; however, it was one thing to be independent and another to be lonely. Having someone there for them (when they needed it) was nice, and for Lafontaine, it was necessary. Starting new sounded refreshing and all but it also meant leaving everything they knew behind. They wouldn’t ever say it out loud but they definitely weren’t ready for that yet.

They could use the excuse that they already had a job lined up for them as a research assistant in their hometown, while they got their Masters.  They could pretend that “Going home will be nice” and “It’ll be great being close to my parents if I need anything”, but all of that was really just secondary. At heart they knew that they really weren’t ready to leave their comfort zone just yet, especially not alone.   

Laura was currently off in Germany site-seeing with her girlfriend, and it had been ages since they’d talked face to face (if ages counts as a month and a half, and if skype counts as face to face). Lafontaine opened their computer and resituated themselves against the wall.

Not a second after they logged onto skype, Laura’s icon began dinging over and over. They smiled to themselves as they opened the chat to see the 15 odd messages Laura had sent them. The messages contained only exclamation points, Laura’s way of saying ‘Hey Laf, it’s been awhile’. Laf chuckled and tried typing back a ‘hey laura!’, but before they could click send, they were interrupted by a video call from the girl. Lafontaine accepted the request promptly and was greeted by Laura’s beaming face, wide with excitement, followed by a crackling and lagged,

“Lafontaaaaaine!”

Laf smiled as they watched Laura wiggle and dance back and forth for a second or two before calming down.

“How’s it going!?” Laura asked, still brimming with excitement. Lafontaine couldn’t stop grinning. Laura’s genuineness was so incredibly refreshing. They felt relief wash over them and replied,

“It’s going. How’s Berlin?”

“It’s amazing, I mean, it’s freaking Germany. Plus, Carmilla’s here, so that’s like, awesome, right?” Laura’s smile turned into a sheepish grin at the mention of her girlfriend, “So, how’s Minneapolis?”

Lafontaine gave Laura a grimace and sighed out, “It’s okay..I mean, my parents just left.”

“And how are Lorelai and Andrew doing?” Laura smirked and sipped from her mug as Laf replied, downcast at the topic.

“They- they’re doing alright. It’s me that’s having trouble.” Lafontaine murmured their response, their head and eyes falling slightly in distress.

“Oh come on..you’ll be alright, I’m sure they're just super happy that you’re finally home…” There was a short pause, “Have you told them about J.P.?” Lafontaine’s eyes went wide again, this time in surprise, and they shook their head vigorously.

“Definitely not. I don’t wanna get their hopes up about the whole..’Laf finally dated a guy’ thing.. and besides, they’re still not exactly on board with the idea that I’m not straighter than a carbon chain, the fact that I was dating a consciousness that was manifested in the form of a computer interface, despite their gender, is not something that they would happily accept.” Laura tilted her head sideways, bringing it forward in a nod before agreeing.

“Yeah.. that’s..prooobably for the best.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t want to talk to them about it anyway. They’re not really very helpful with that sort of thing..” Lafontaine started to get that absent despairing look in their eyes that Laura knew all too well.

“Well hey! At least you have your own place now! You can do all sorts of..kitchen.. experiments..? And all sorts of junk!” Laura exclaimed in an attempt to make her excitement contagious. Lafontaine smiled at the gesture.

“Yeah...there’s not a whole lot of space for that right now. My whole life is still sort of packed up in boxes. My parents helped me unload a couple, but mostly we made bookshelves and tables..hence, the piles of cardboard boxes.. strewn about..” Lafontaine turned the computer around to show their living room, still crowded and unorganized.

“Well, that looks like a blast” Laura quipped as Lafontaine’s phone dinged. Laf scoffed at Laura as they looked down at to investigate the ding. The message was from Perry and Laf couldn’t suppress their grin as they unlocked their phone.

“Hey..” Laura’s voice had raised a playfully accusatory octave or two as she smiled coyly, “what’s got you so giddy, I thought you were all miserable Lafontaine, what with the boxes and the..parents…?.” Laura shifted her shoulders up and down whimsically to punctuate her askance. Lafontaine glimpsed up shortly, a smirk building on their face. They shook their head and giggled as they read the long line of messages peppered with a truly ridiculous amount of emojis describing the way to properly lift heavy items.

“It’s nothing, just..I guess I sort of met someone today? It’s-it’s not a big deal.” Lafontaine glanced back up at the screen to see Laura with her mouth wide open in an ecstatic smile.

“I completely forgot that you texted me! Tell me everything you goofball!” Lafontaine and Laura always used to give each other advice on girl trouble or boy trouble or..digitized consciousness trouble at college, so Lafontaine fell effortlessly back into routine.

“Well, okay so it’s this.. I mean since J.P..” Lafontaine looked back and forth from the computer screen to their phone, huffing occasionally as they explained, “..this girl, she’s the first person i’ve really...Basically, her name’s Perry.” Lafontaine felt their face get warm as her name fell softly off their tongue.


	4. A Day In Their Lives

Lafontaine toyed with the idea of going down to the coffee shop to work on their research paper, which was coming along at a (not so steady) crawl. They knew better though. The school season was only two months away and they had to prepare something presentable.

The actual research was done, had gone by in a flash, but that was just the beginning. Research was easy, interesting, captivating; all of that history and data, connections just waiting to be made. Lafontaine couldn’t get enough of it. Writing up a draft hadn’t been so bad either, they’d spent months gaining all of this information, it was exciting to be able to express everything they’d learned.

Lafontaine had only recently moved their area of interest to epigenetics after the last couple of years at Silas taking classes on molecular biology. The field was still new and exciting, (not that there was any science that wasn’t) so most of their paper had flown by in a blur. Now however, they were stuck with the editing, which seemed to drone on. They must be on their 500th time through at this point and yet they still had so much to do.

It hadn’t helped that every time they wanted to carve out some time to work on it, they always ended up convincing themselves to go to the coffee shop, Echo’s Espressos, where Perry worked. They always found their place at the bar and waited for the girl with the copper waterfall to ask them very politely, “How may I-”, always recognizing them before she could finish asking. Half of the time, they would look up from their editing to find a soy latte and a sweet smile waiting in front of them.

Their time at the coffee shop was usually consumed by conversation centered around languages (a couple of instances in which they had frustratedly blurted out strings of messy french while trying to edit had incurred Perry’s interest. Lafontaine had to learn french as an infant along with english due to their mother’s need for them to be “cultured”. Perry herself grew up bilingual with German speaking parents, and had a huge passion for languages. This had caused the two to talk at length, on multiple occasions, about linguistics exclusively).

Every once in a while, Perry would dictate her day’s proceedings, and Laf would attempt to explain their research. Lafontaine had never really spent much time in coffee shops, much less working in them, or really working at all- there had never really been a need for them to (thanks to their parents’ “generosity”). Talking to Perry about her job and her life in general made Laf feel as though the two came from completely different worlds. Both of them struggled to understand the other on these subjects, yet somehow each remained vastly intrigued with the other. In short, Lafontaine had failed for the past month to get anything done at that little cafe because they were too invested in wrapping their head around Perry’s world. They had finally realized this pattern only days ago , and had since begun fighting a battle with themselves every morning - Cafe or actually get anything done.

For once, on this morning, they had won the battle and decided to stay in.

Lafontaine sat themselves down at their kitchen island, set their computer down, and pulled out their rough draft. It was riddled with suggestions from their supervisor back at Silas, scrawled in the margins, primarily in German. They kicked themselves for not getting started on editing earlier, as the suggestions looked like little more than scribbles now. If their professor’s scrawl weren’t difficult enough to read, Lafontaine’s German had grown fuzzy with underexposure, adding another taxing level to the task of editing.

Lafontaine groaned at the seemingly insurmountable amount of work that lay before them. They stood up in a huff, made their way over to the coffee machine, poured themselves a cup, and stared at the stack of paper bitterly. Lafontaine huffed again, breath dancing their hair up off of their forehead.

“Fuck it,” they said aloud, setting down their coffee mug before even taking a sip.

_I’ll just take a quick break. it’ll be fine... I’ll get some music going, unpack a little...._ their eyes wandered over to the giant cardboard tower against the wall. Another sigh escaped their lips as they stood, overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable task.

“Fuck it.”

Pulling their computer off the counter and bringing it with them, they left the kitchen and collapsed on their couch.

_I’ll just relax a little...a re-run of Sg-1 and- there was a new volume of Taylor & Francis’ “Epigenetics”.. that’s on topic… so it technically counts as studying doesn’t it..?_ Somehow they convinced themselves that they would be able to both do the reading and watch the show at the same time. Luckily they’d been through the entirety of Stargate SG1 at least 4 times, making it slightly easier to divide their attention.

Minutes quickly turned into hours. At some point, SG1 was turned off and the Epigenetics issues took up their full attention -they wondered if Perry was on her break yet.. (almost full attention).

**Lafontaine** ( _ **12:41**_ ) : Hey Perr, what did one atom say to the other!?  
 **Perr** ( _ **12:45**_ ) : ?? Good afternoon Lafontaine!   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **12:45**_ ) : How was work?   
**Perr** ( _ **12:50**_ ) : Ohhh you knoww, the usual. What did one atom say to the other?   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **12:51**_ ) : I lost my electron..   
**Perr** ( _ **12:53**_ ) : lol!   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **12:54**_ ) : nonono, and then the other atom says, “are you sure?”   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **12:54**_ ) : and then the other says “yes i’m positive”! ahaha   
**Perr** ( _ **12:57**_ ) : Ohhh lol!   
**Perr** ( _ **12:59**_ ) : Have you just been looking up chemistry jokes all morning?   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **1:00**_ ) : Of course not...It has been a rather unproductive day though I suppose..   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **1:02**_ ) : You don’t happen to be free sometime next Tuesday, do you? 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perry lay in her bed sound asleep, body weighed down by exhaustion. Her alarm blared loudly in the background. She always set it for 15 minutes before she needed to get up on any given day. This way she could take her time to prepare herself for the day. 

Perry was a stern believer in a morning ritual. She pulled herself from the warm covers and sipped at a glass of ice water at her bedside. She stretched slowly until she felt she had the strength to move herself from her bed. She picked her work clothes from her drawers and brought them with her to the washroom. She adjusted the temperature nozzle on her shower to exactly ¾, as she had every morning previous. 

Perry unlocked the back door of Echo’s, the street lamps above her still shining through the dark of the early morning. She always took a deep breath as she stepped through the door, and into the store room in the back of Echo’s. 

Arriving at work had always been comforting to her. It was a place where not only did she have control over her surroundings, she was expected to, and was rewarded for it. She always ensured that she was the first one there in the morning to open; This way she could choose the music and set the pace for the day. 

Her coworkers joined her after a while, and she delegated the work as they trickled in one by one. She told Jacob to wipe down all of the tables and counters while she was brewing the coffee. Sarah Jane was to start stocking pastries and other merchandise as she started the registers. Perry fussed anxiously over the stock as she waited for the moment she could unlock the doors and turn the sign. As soon as the digital clock changed from 7:29 to 7:30, Sarah Jane and Jacob heard the succession of clicks that meant Perry had turned the lock, and quickly stood at attention near the counter.  She flipped the sign with a smile and a contented sigh as she smoothed her apron and made her way back to the counter. 

Work for Perry was a stressor, but the very start of the day, the moment she flipped the sign to open, always felt refreshing. 

Perry dutifully stood at the front of the counter, conductor of the following hours’ symphony. The day’s arrangement brought forth an organized and predictable chaos. Businessmen and women in suits - soloists looking for a quick cappuccino before work. Duets, giggling over croissants and lattes, getting to get to know each other through each strum of their vocal chords. Then, as the morning wore on, they came in triplets, quartets, and various ensembles crescendoing with laughter or nodding quietly through business meetings. 

When she had first started at Echo’s, Perry had found the simplicity of human interaction mesmerizing. Only weeks later did this wonder disappear into the whirlwind of habitual chore that these interactions became. She directed each section with efficiency and charm, flitting from customer to the espresso machine and back again, speaking clearly, politely and intently. This speech pattern had protruded into most every part of her life without her even noticing. 

The day progressed quickly, Perry barely finding a spare moment to remember her name, and before she knew it, she was on break. It had taken weeks of her managers convincing that, for legal reasons (if not her own and everyone elses sanity), she needed to take her breaks. For Perry, working was a break. She enjoyed the sense of control it gave her. She was trying to fit a years worth of coursework into a single semester and the monotony of work gave her mind a welcomed rest. 

The end of her shift came before she knew it and she struggled to pull herself away from some tables that needed cleaning up. She resisted the temptation and made her way to the back, grabbing her coat and long strapped purse. Jacob and Sarah Jane joined her on either side to ensure she left the building, as they did most days. The two played their shepherding of the busy girl off as a joke, but they all knew that it was necessary if there was any hope of Perry leaving. 

They filed into Jacob’s car and made their way to Rudy’s.  Every once in awhile, Perry or one of the others would decide it was time to try something new, but it was Rudy’s that always won out as their regular lunch spot. 

When they were settled into a booth, they played a familiar game of “who had the most ridiculous customer today”, which Jacob always seemed to win. 

Today’s winning story was his dramatic regaling of a woman who had spent a good 15 minutes interrogating him about the exact details of the cows that made the milk in her caramel latte’s living conditions. 

Sarah Jane just shook her head. 

“Do you ever wonder what it is about you that attracts such pretentious customers, Jacob?” She teased lightly. “It’s the hair, isn’t it?” 

Jacob had a short shock of golden-brown curls that he groomed carefully every morning. He responded by running his fingers through it with a cocky smirk. 

“Obviously. Sarah Jane, if you had curls like Perry and I, your life might be a bit more interesting,” he replied with a wink. Perry smiled but gave him a soft hit to the shoulder with the back of her hand. 

The conversations rambled as they let off steam before they had to get back on deck at Echo’s. The conversations’ ventings had moved from frustrating customers, to frustrating co-workers. 

“-I realize it’s petty, but it’s just so frustrating. It’s not like it takes a lot of time, or energy, or- it should just go along with doing the job.. Just dump out the- gosh... danged…” Perry’s hands waved as she searched for the right words, “espresso- pucky things.” Perry stumbled over her words in her frustration. Sarah Jane and Jacob snickered at each other softly, to which Perry glared. “It’s just- common courtesy.” She huffed at them. She flashed them a frustrated frown before collecting her phone to answer the short concert of “dings” that had been sounding in the background of her rant. 

Jacob just smiled at her. 

He had noticed that, for all she liked to complain, she had taken to spending much of her lunch breaks texting someone, always resulting in the slow build of a giant grin across her face. This tended to take the angry edge out of her rants as she could never quite suppress the creeping smile, as she glanced at the little phone. 

“Oh but of course, it must be sooo hard to sit here, texting your girlfriend,” Jacob teased with a wink. 

Perry shoved her phone into her pocket with an, “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh, come on,” Jacob was smirking through his words at this point, “As if no one’s noticed.” 

Perry looked over at SJ for support, who was quietly sipping off her straw and avoiding eye contact. She couldn’t keep it up for long though, and stole a glance at Perry, unable to ignore that burning sensation that came with the older girl’s icy stare. SJ let go of her straw and sucked in a little breath before nodding in agreement with Jacob. Perry pursed her lips in embarrassment and immediately felt a blush warm her face, flood through her shoulders and down her chest. She could swear it was creeping into her fingers before Jacob lightly touched her shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s alright Perry, I was just joking around.” His tone had softened as he squeezed her shoulder gently. His eyes looked softly into hers with a short sincere smile. 

“You need to loosen up a bit sweetie...Anyywayy!” His hand dropped from her shoulder as he transitioned back into his usual biting tone. 

“Sarah Jane, I do believe you’ve got some explaining to do as well.” He took a bite out of his sandwich as Sarah Jane’s eyes flashed up from her plate and locked eyes with him quizzically. 

“Ohhh don’t play dumb with me, Missy! I see that hickey on your shoulder,” He interrogated further. 

Sarah Jane’s eyes flashed involuntarily up at Perry, who had already pulled her face into an indecipherable polite smile and steely eyes, which gave nothing to the girls searching eyes. 

“I-i-i, well maybe there is someone,” Sarah Jane stared straight at Perry as she busied herself with her text messages, very purposefully avoiding SJ’s gaze. Sarah Jane looked back at Jacob, worrying her straw as she spoke. 

“Not that it would be any of your business, Jacob.” The two continued back and forth like bickering children, and Perry elected not to participate, worried that her nerves might betray her facade - besides, she was perfectly content to respond to each ding that she knew would belong to Lafontaine. 

**Lafontaine** ( _ **1:05**_ ) : You don’t happen to be free sometime next Tuesday, do you?   
**Perry** ( _ **1:06**_ ): I get off at 5 o’clock on Tuesdays. Why?   
**Lafontaine** ( _ **1:07**_ ) : Well it’s been a week, and with the limited help from my parents, i’ve hardly dented my seemingly colossal mass of boxes.. You wouldn’t mind stopping by to help, would you?   
**Perry** ( _ **1:08**_ ) : I could be there at approximately 5:40. If you could text me your address… Is there anything you’d like me to pick up on my way over? Should I bring any cleaning supplies?


	5. To The Window, To The Wall

A succinct knock came at Laf’s door; it was about six o’clock in the evening and Laf had a mouthful of noodles when they heard the quick and rapid sound. They slurped down their fork full of ramen and sped to the front door, noodles still dangling from their mouth.

“Mmph coming!” Laf called, trying to finish their bite quickly as they fumbled with the doorknob.

Perry stood on the other side of the door, completely dressed up for a day of cleaning. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun, with a bandana to keep even her stray hairs in line, and a loose shirt with the likeness of a cat stitched into it (Laf had a sneaking suspicion Perry had made it herself).

“Hey Lafontaine!” Perry brushed past them and into the cluttered house, leaving them standing in the doorway, her eyes lighting up at the task ahead. “Soooo,” She turned to Lafontaine, who was closing the door behind her, “Where do we start?”

Lafontaine wiped their mouth with the back of their hand as they turned to Perry, a little thrown off by her forwardness. The two smirked slightly at each other for a moment before Laf spoke up.

“Well, you came prepared,” Perry set down her bucket filled with cleaning supplies, and a tote bag filled with what seemed to be thousands of markers and a label maker. She just rolled her eyes softly at them, not justifying their snarky comment with a reply, moving onto the task at hand.

“Now, I think we should start with the living room or the kitchen because those are the easiest, really.”

“If you say so-”

“-Oh god, we’re you eating Ramen noodles? You’re a Bio major for christ sake, how can you eat that stuff??” Perry babbled on as she zipped around, assessing the work ahead of them, “I mean, you’re also literally living above a grocery store!” (What could they say. The rent was _really_ good.)

“Umm, have you had Ramen before? ‘Cause, it’s kinda awesome..” Lafontaine smirked back at the girl.

“Of course- I’ve had-.. Ramen..” Perry responded, visibly flustered, “Now why don’t you grab some scissors and we can make our way-”

“You haven’t! This must be rectified. Perry come over here,” Lafontaine responded, taking Perry by the hand. Their fingers intertwined subconsciously causing, for both a surreptitious smile. Perry quickly pushed the affectionate grin from her face and tried to put on a show of frustration about the whole ordeal. “Here, just try a bite,” they said, leading Perry over to their mostly empty bowl of noodles.

“Lafont-” Laf’s smirk silenced Perry before she could protest further. She sighed softly, untangled her fingers from Lafontaine’s, and grabbed the plastic fork from the bowl. She carefully twirled the remaining noodles into a modest size bite and brought it to her lips, hesitating before eating it. Lafontaine looked up at her eagerly, noticing the hint of surprise on Perry’s face. She finished chewing and cleared her throat, giving Lafontaine an unimpressed smile. Lafontaine scoffed in disbelief, not buying Perry’s nonchalance.

“Okay, okay, fine..they’re pretty okay..” Perry gave, smiling and wiping the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, eliciting a smug smirk from Lafontaine as they took the bowl to the kitchen. Perry followed. “Regardless, we have work to do. Lafontaine do you have a speaker?”

She received Lafontaine’s silence and blank stare as answer enough.

“Nevermind, I brought my own. Do you have any preference of music?” Lafontaine answered with a shrug, tossing the bowl in the sink and moving back to the living room and mountainous mass of cardboard. Perry meanwhile began setting up her little speaker system. As they began tearing open boxes, and investigating their contents, Lafontaine heard a “barum-dum-dum” and a beat, full of bass begin blasting from Perry’s set up. A raspy voice followed shortly, dictating what seemed to be-- Lafontaine dropped the set of plates they were holding the short distance between them and the ground, and spun around to look at Perry, who joined them by the boxes, bobbing her head softly to the bass and humming under her breath. Lafontaine continued staring at the ringletted girl in a state of suspended shock.

“To the window… To the wall…” Perry whispered quietly to herself as she pulled open one of the boxes at Lafontaine’s side. “‘Till the sweat drips down my..” Perry brought a single hand to her face so as to mask her lips as she pronounced “balls” quietly, like a secret. Lafontaine’s shock had turned to amusement as they watched Perry shift through the contents along with the music.

“Sorry Perr- I didn’t catch that last bit, down your what?” Lafontaine asked through a sparsely hidden grin. Perry frowned slightly at them and rolled her eyes.

“Dork.. I asked if you had a preference and you didn’t-”

“I know, I know, -this just wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

“Well aren’t we a little presumptuous” Perry teased, nudging Lafontaine’s shoulder playfully. Lafontaine glared playfully in return. 

“So, uh...how long have you been working at Echo’s?” They made an attempt at casual conversation.

“Hm., Oh, I think eight? Eight years now.”

“Ohh.. wait? How old are you again? I didn’t realize I was hangin with an older woman.”

“24 in August..”

“Oh, wow! So..” Lafontaine counted in their head, “since you were 16?” Perry nodded and pulled her lips together continuing to unpack in silence.

“Must be a pretty nice job then, huh?” Perry remained silent and gave a quick nod. Considering her chatty nature, Lafontaine was intrigued by Perry’s sudden silence. They pressed further.

“I mean, if you’ve worked there for eight years, right?” They leaned over, attempting to make eye contact with her. "You get health benefits or something?” Perry looked up at Lafontaine and cleared her throat.

“I um, I mean...working there was more out of necessity than anything else.. and that.. that hasn’t really gone away.. so..I haven’t really been able to quit.. but I love the work, really!” Perry sighed, flashing Lafontaine a quick half smile before returning to her current box.

“Oh..Cool..” Lafontaine muttered softly. The two fell into an awkward silence, the music and the soft shuffling of cardboard were the only sounds in the room as the two kept unpacking. Perry unpacked the boxes and placed items in piles, while Lafontaine wandered around, taking the duty of putting the items in their place . “Get Low” was still playing, and coming to a close in the background. Lafontaine couldn’t pass up the chance to remove the tension and accompanied the chorus, softly at first, then growing louder with each line.

“To the window.. _to the window_..” They sang, “ _To the wall!_.. _**to the wall**_..”

Perry smiled over at her new, ridiculous friend, joining in unreservedly, “ **Till the sweat drop down my balls**!”.

“To aaalll these bitches crawl,” (Perry echoed Laf with a deep, “ **crawl** ”) 

"To all skeet skeet motherfucker!”

(“ **Mother fucker!!** ”)

“ **To all skeet skeet god DAMN,** ”

(“ **god DAMN** ”).

The two dissolved into laughter throughout the last lines of the song, each too stricken by just how hilarious the other looked rapping to continue.

“And here I thought you didn’t like my music Lafontaine,” Perry accused playfully.

Lafontaine rolled their eyes and muttered softly, “ I never said that..”

* * *

 

 

The next few hours flew by in a whirl of cardboard tearing, pop music, bad dancing, and Ikea furniture - the apartment seemed no less put together than it had when they’d started. Lafontaine took a moment to rest and scan their apartment. They found, to their remarkable frustration, a large cluttering of cardboard boxes still intruding upon their living room. Laf hoped the new arrangement of boxes according to their contents made the box maze appear more daunting than it truly was. They sighed loudly and crumpled onto their bed (which still lacked a bed frame).

“Well Perr, I think we’ve done plenty for today” They said in exasperation. Perry smiled softly and sat next to their piled self on the bed.

“Are you sure? There’s still some-” Laf shook their head vigorously, sitting upright to cut off Perry’s well intentioned suggestion.

“Yeah..I don’t think so… Let’s just watch some T.V. or something for awhile okay? I’m sorta wiped..” Perry smiled, and nodded as she started to get up and move to the living room (if that’s what one calls an unmounted TV set up on the floor in front of on a worn-out couch with a small table next to it). It wasn’t until Perry was through the threshold of the bedroom that she realized Lafontaine had yet to follow her. She began to turn around, only to find Laf still in their bedroom, their pants at their ankles, their legs only barely covered by their boxers, and an absent look in their eyes as they appeared to be searching for something. A blush worked it’s way through Perry’s face as she couldn’t help but stare.

“Lafontaine!” She yelped in surprise.

"Hmmm?” Lafontaine turned their absent stare to Perry, who looked like she might’ve just seen a ghost. “What’s _your_ deal?” Lafontaine asked, amused with the girl’s shock.

“My deal? My de- Lafontaine, you’re not wearing any pants?!” Perry replied, irritated with Laf’s nonchalance. They elected to ignore Perry’s panic as they still couldn’t understand what the big deal was ( _I mean they’re just legs, what is she freaking out about?_ ) _._

“Have you seen my sweatpants anywhere? I can’t seem to find them... hmmm..” At this point Perry had elected to cover her eyes with a single hand and simply pointed to the corner where she had seen Laf toss their sweatpants while unpacking earlier.

“I’m- I’m gonna go get a drink.. yep, do you need anything Lafontaine?” Perry called over her shoulder as she moved from the room again, this time walking quite purposefully. Lafontaine stumbled out of their room as they pulled up their sweatpants.

“uhhhh, maybe a Red’s? It’s all i have in my fridge.” They made their way over to the couch and pulled the blanket off the top.

“Of course it is..” Perry sighed, judgingly under her breath as she pulled two from the refrigerator.

“What was that?!” Lafontaine called back at Perry, just barely hearing her.

“Ohhh nothing,” Perry smiled, concealing a giggle. “Is it alright if i have one too?” Lafontaine looked at her knowingly, their brow furrowed.

“Sure…” They answered slowly, before moving on. “Hey, what do you wanna watch?” They asked over their shoulder as Perry approached, two bottles in hand.

“Umm, why don’t we try the TLC channel? I’m a sucker for Trading Spaces..” Perry smiled , sitting crosslegged against the foot of the couch. Lafontaine smiled, some how smugly while still capturing their excitement at the mention of ‘Trading Spaces’. They struggled about with their blanket, trying to get comfortable, then slipped the longer side of the blanket over Perry’s shoulder. After which the channel surfing began.

“You’re in luck, a re-run Trading Spaces just started like 5 minutes ago.” Perry smiled and pulled the blanket tightly around her, snuggling in.

“Oooh, great!” she muttered, putting her bottle to her lips and sipping down a gulp. “My god.. Lafontaine, how can you drink this stuff?” Perry pulled the bottle from her mouth, disgusted.

“Because this stuff is good,” Lafontaine replied nudging Perry, her face still pulled back in disgust. “...and I don’t really have anything else quite yet. Sorry Perr.”

“Fine, I’ll settle for your crappy beer, but next time, you are coming to my house, and I’m going to teach you what a good drink is.”

“Whatever you say..” Lafontaine rolled their eyes. “You know I used to wish more than anything that I could be on this show. I wanted to do something crazy and new with my room. A couple of times I asked if we could just redesign my room, but every time I asked, my mom would get really frustrated, she would give me these looks you know. She had painted it when she was pregnant and she went all out, with the pink walls and the butterfly appliques and the flower curtains. You get the picture.. Anyway, there was a day when my parents and I were watching it over dinner, and I was six or seven,when I joking suggested maybe re-painting.. I just wasn't really down with the whole, super-in-your-face pink and butterflies anymore. I had this whole idea for like green walls and a violet trim, and dinosaurs--don't laugh! Dinosaurs Everywhere! and I quite literally burst into tears when my mom scoffed at me and goes ‘Why would we do that Susan, that’s just ridiculous’”

Lafontaine shook their head as they spoke. “I mean, it wasn’t that big of a deal but it was just so frustrating because it was little comments like that, _every_ time I brought anything like that up.. My mom was never a big fan of me being..well, not being her.”

Perry’s eyes had been glued to Lafontaine through their whole story, nodding every once in a while in acknowledgement. It was quiet for a moment, Lafontaine staring off, only occasionally stealing glances at Perry who was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth and looking at Lafontaine intensely, as if she was deciding whether or not to speak up about something.  

"Back when I was little I always wanted to be one of the the people that design and really, like, physically put the homes together? You know, the furniture, how everything is laid out. My dad’s-” She cleared her throat softly, a bit disgruntled, “his girlfriends, they used to make fun of me. I used to pretend I was on the show, and I’d reorganize the house and clean things up and they would, they-”

She cleared her throat again, looking down at her lap, “It just really wasn’t a very good situation.. It’s part of why I-... _they_ were part of why I moved out.”

“Shit Perr.. Is that why you’ve been working at the cafe for so long?”

Perry nodded before continuing. “-So I tried talking to my dad about it… and he seemed to understand that it was a bad environment for me, and he apologized and everything and gave me a hug and-but-”

“He didn’t do anything about it..” Lafontaine finished gravely.

“It’s fine! I think I needed the space to, control, just to have control of my own space and-he helped, I mean he payed for rent while I was still in highschool and working at Echo’s covered everything else but-”  
  
Perry dropped her head to Lafontaine’s shoulder as if she had known them her whole life, not saying anything else.

Lafontaine pulled their arm around her tightly. “I’m sorry Perr. I didn’t know... he sounds like an asshat.” They tangled and untangled their fingers in the strands of Perry’s hair that had fallen from her messy bun. “You know what? I think you’re probably the most hardcore person I’ve ever met.”

She looked up at them doubtfully.

“No seriously!” They affirmed, pulling away from Perry slightly, so they could look her in the eye, “You totally took the situation and you did what was best for you, and found a way to succeed and be awesome,” They smiled confidently into Perry’s hardened blue eyes.

The girl’s expression softened into something that Lafontaine couldn’t quite place, but before they could really begin to analyze it, she gave them that plastered on smile and muttered with a sigh, “You’re actually really sweet, you know that Lafontaine..”

Perry patted their head and settled back in next to them. Lafontaine smiled and put their arm back around Perry’s shoulder, pulling her into a gentle squeeze.

“I used to just wish sometimes that my life could just be normal.. You know, Mom and Dad that got along and we would go shopping and clean the house together, and they would worry over me about colleges and bicker about what to eat for dinner, or whatever it is families do..” Perry hummed softly, all intensity and worry, now gone from her voice. Lafontaine giggled.

“Your idea of 'normal' sounds more like a fairy tale, Perr.” Perry rolled her eyes and stood up, shrugging Lafontaine's arm off of her shoulder, and walking over to the table to retrieve her beer.

“That’s Princess Perr to you.” She sauntered back to her seat at Lafontaine’s side.

“Here’s to Princess Perr. May her reign be long and prosperous.” Perry gave out a laugh and tipped her bottle to ‘cheers’ with Laf, accidentally tipping it a bit too far, causing it to splash all over Lafontaine. Perry gasped and jumped quickly into action. The two beers found themselves on a table and before Laf knew it there was a washcloth frantically dabbing at their shirt front.

“Perry, hey- Perr,” Lafontaine tried repeatedly to get the girl’s attention and calm her down, “Really Perr it’s alright.” They laughed, pushing Perry’s worrying hands away. Their eyes met for a moment too long, and Perry ducked away from their gaze as soon as she felt the warmth of a blush hit her cheeks.

“Let’s-let’s just get you out of this shirt and cleaned up, okay? Do you have a-uh clean shirt you can change into? Maybe in your bedroom?”

“Geez Perr, take me to dinner first, will ya?” Laf joked, causing Perry roll her eyes so far back into her head, they wondered if they would ever come out. She scoffed softly as Laf rose to their feet.

“Dork..” she murmured under her breath. Lafontaine just grinned back at her as they walked down the hall.


End file.
